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News of substance, but not so relentlessly depressing wanted

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    News of substance, but not so relentlessly depressing wanted

    First five topics on The Guardian's website right now:

    1) heatwave sears Europe (translation: climate change is here)
    2) migrant crisis: 150 dead in shipwreck off the coast of Libya
    3) Brexit
    4) Amazon deforestation accelerating to unrecoverable 'tipping point' (translation: climate change is getting a ton worse real fast)
    5) US justice department resumes use of death penalty, schedules several executions

    I would like to keep up with the news. I also would want my news source to be at least halfway substantial, to avoid falling into the "look at these adorable puppies" fluffiness sinkhole (that's what Twitter is for). But this is just too damn depressing for me.

    Where do you get your non-depressing news of substance from these days? Or is the current state of politics so dire that there is no substantial non-depressing news, and I should just sod it and go to the nearest pub?

    #2
    Sometimes someone I follow on twitter throws up penguins being tickled or summat, then it's back to the misery.

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      #3
      Or is the current state of politics so dire that there is no substantial non-depressing news, and I should just sod it and go to the nearest pub?

      Same as it ever was, really. The only times things really looked good for a sustainable period were after something really really horrible had finally ended so things seemed better in comparison. The 20s. The 50s. Maybe the 90s, but things were still really bad for a lot of people during those periods.


      We're going to ruin the climate. There's no hope we won't. The US has a right-wing pro-oil government and probably will for at least five more years. So does Britain. Brazil has a right-wing anti-forest leader. Whatever the rest of the world does won't be enough to counter that.

      It won't cause too much insurmountable damage in the US or Europe. Most of the impact will be felt by all the species going extinct and people in places like the middle-east or India or around the equator.

      The question is whether or not in ten to 15 years time if we collectively realize what we've done and change course, or just ride this straight into extinction. If we can at least come to our senses, albeit late, there's hope that technology will allow us to undo some of the damages and/or adapt to the new normal. Otherwise, we'll get what we deserve. The earth will survive. New species will evolve, etc. But we, or at least not many of us, will be here to see it.

      Comment


        #4
        Unhappy people shop more. That's why they do it.

        Comment


          #5
          Got it. Step one: win lottery. Step two: buy stuff. Step three: enjoy my stuff. Shallow, but not impossible.

          Comment


            #6
            This ain't bad

            [URL="https://twitter.com/milliennial/status/1154434172510986240?s=21"]https://twitter.com/milliennial/status/1154434172510986240[/URL]

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post
              Sometimes someone I follow on twitter throws up penguins being tickled or summat, then it's back to the misery.
              I follow this hashtag now. Thanks for the tip!

              Comment


                #8
                HP: the 90s and early 00s were my formative years, so it might just be that my baseline is too positive.

                UA: thanks. The incidental bit of good news does go a long way.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Wouter D View Post
                  Got it. Step one: win lottery. Step two: buy stuff. Step three: enjoy my stuff. Shallow, but not impossible.
                  Step one: win lottery

                  Step two: emigrate to country without an extradition treaty

                  Step three: arrange contact with men of business.

                  Step four: put aside funds on which to live a comfortable life

                  Step five: hand over remainder to aforementioned businessmen to TWEP each and every one of my enemies.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Baseline experience is vitally important in this domain.

                    I grew up with the Cuban Missile Crisis, a raft of political assassinations, hyper-destructive urban riots and the Vietnam War.

                    All of which was a doddle compared to relatives who saw their families killed before spending years in refugee camps and never had the possibility of returning to their homeland.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      [URL="https://twitter.com/tnimmigrant/status/1153496054958100480?s=21"]https://twitter.com/tnimmigrant/status/1153496054958100480[/URL]

                      Comment

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